Wandering Through the Desert: New Professionals in a Pandemic
“Is this what it's always like?”
A friend and I were recently talking about a survey released on NASPA’s New Professionals and Graduate Students blog. The survey focused on new student affairs professionals in higher education who searched and started a job in the midst of a pandemic and how it has shaped their experience of student affairs. Some of the common themes that emerged were feelings of disconnection, emotional exhaustion, and loneliness.
Reading through the responses of the survey, I felt the exhaustion, disconnection, and loneliness that my peers are experiencing. The question that emerged over and over—“Is this what it's always like?”—captures the feeling that our new pandemic way of life is far from over. Whether you work for a company, teach at a school, or work on a college campus, I think it’s fair to say that all new professionals are asking ourselves if this new way of work will be our normal way of work.
In a year of loss and crisis, it seems that we are more like the Israelites wandering through the desert for 40 years than the Apostles at Pentecost boldly proclaiming the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As God’s chosen people, the Israelites’ cries were heard, and he delivered them out of slavery into “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:18). But before entering the Promise Land, the Israelites doubted God’s goodness, instead choosing to give into fear and reject the Father for a golden calf, thus leading to 40 years of lamenting in the desert. We, the generation of new professionals who ended school online, job searched in both a pandemic and economic recession, and began working virtually, can relate to the Israelites’ doubts, cries, exhaustion, and lamentations for a better tomorrow.
The desolation, exhaustion, loneliness, doubt, and fears make God’s goodness and love seem so far away and out of reach. Much like the Israelites wandering the desert, we new professionals are wandering with our more seasoned co-workers and supervisors in an ever-changing landscape. Some of us might be working remotely with limited interaction and networking opportunities with our co-workers. Others are working in a hybrid model, trying to balance a million different pieces. And some of us are working in a new normal of in-person work, but with social distance and masks. Seasoned and new professionals alike are dejected, with spirits broken and questioning where God is calling us.
And yet God is fighting for us—He is always fighting for us. Before the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they became frightened and wanted to go back, preferring enslavement to God’s promises. In that moment, Moses spoke to the Israelites, saying to not be afraid, that “the Lord will fight for you; you only have to keep still” (Exodus 14:14). God is fighting for us as we navigate our new role as professionals in a workplace that seems to be in constant crisis mode. He is there in the workplace, every moment of every day, softly speaking to us to not be afraid and trust in His goodness. In this moment, we may be wandering through our own deserts, crying out to God, waiting to hear His voice through all the noise. It is in those moments that God is drawing us into stillness to trust in his plan and know that he is always fighting for us.
Yes; it has been an exhausting and daunting year as new professionals. And we may be the generation of new professionals who are asking if work is “always like this” in our new virtual, hybrid world. But in the midst of all the loneliness, desolation, and loss that we are experiencing, our Father in heaven is fighting for us. The Lord God who fought for the Israelites in the desert is fighting for us in this new normal way of life. As we grow near to our one-year mark in the working world, let us hold on to the knowledge that our Lord is fighting for us. All that he asks of us is to be still as he draws us nearer into his heart.
Alexandra (Alex) Harrel resides in Greenville, Texas. She is a new student affairs professional within the world of higher education. In her spare time, she loves reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time outdoors. Her favorite prayer is Hail, Holy Queen. You can follow her on Instagram at @2012alexandra.